Repentant Judgment
by Micromyni
Summary: Alone, injured, and fading. Lost in a strange world. What if he had failed to protect her that night? OC Character death, AU, AR, connected to Requiem of a Wandering Spirit. A sort of "what might have happened" kinda thing.


**Twilight: Hehehe…**

**Kage: Uh…Wh—you know what? Never mind. I'm not gonna ask.

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**. Repentant Judgment .**

… _a bleach fanfiction_

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_Requiem of a Wandering Spirit © Dragon of Twilight  
Bleach © Kubo Tite_

_This introduction format © B a y o – B a y o_

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_Opening Theme__: "Inner Universe" by Yoko Kanno

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_Is it over?_

The foggy thought drifted through her detached mind like a faint wisp of smoke, dissipating with no answers as a new one took its place.

_Am I finished?_

From far away, she felt her frozen fingers twitch wildly as liquid fire soaked the skin of the hand clamped weakly over her abdomen.

**No. Not yet.**

A cold chill crept through her, amplifying the ice-cold pain that lanced through her body.

_But I soon will be._

The ruined form her mind was contained in convulsed uncontrollably, trying desperately to warm the little blood left within the shattered body in a useless attempt to remain functional. She could feel her life energy draining away as blood trickled from her body with every feeble heartbeat, streaming through ragged wounds she could no longer feel.

_How are my thoughts still clear?_

Blank gunmetal gray eyes shimmered with a faint film of approaching death, forever dilated pupils contracting to small black points.

She felt no urge to blink; there was no need.

Her hands twitched wildly from their placements, clamped halfheartedly over her abdomen.

She felt no will to still them; she knew they would not hear.

Through shadowy vision she sensed the 14-inch gash slashed through skin and abdominal muscle, cruelly revealing the delicate innards that should never be exposed to the world through the opening of slit muscle tissue and flesh.

_I…_

She did not feel the agony; she was numb.

_I am… dying._

She did not care. There was nothing.

_Wait…_

The dull eyes flickered.

_Nothing? No…there is something. There are a lot of something's._

Soft white hair and hard emerald green eyes. A warm body and a pair of cold hands. A heartwarming smile and an unholy smirk.

_Taichou._

She'd forgotten.

How had she forgotten?

A tear slipped from wide, blank eyes, cutting a clear, glittering trail through the blood and filth.

_Taichou…_

**How pathetic.**

"M-Maboroshi?!" An unbelieving whisper.

Her heart sped up from its slow, sluggish beats. She recognized that voice.

"Maboroshi!" A stricken howl.

A pair of black-clothes knees hit the blood-soaked snow next to her face, spraying her unmoving body in the cold particles. A pair of familiarly icy hands brushed them away from the tattered skin of her face and neck with frantic movements before turning her limp body over. She felt her head and neck being cradled against a small, wiry body that radiated a familiar heat. A hand hovered with dismay over the lethal wound in her stomach.

"No…" A moan of denial. "No, no, no! Maboroshi! _Maboroshi_!"

He stared at her face in disbelief, his fingers—stained crimson from her blood-drenched clothes—shaking as he gently gripped her arms. She had laid on the ground like a broken doll, lifeless, limbs crumpled underneath her body and feathery gray hair drenched in red. He didn't shake her; afraid he might cause even more damage. Her glassy onyx eyes drifted closed.

"No…" He breathed, wide emerald eyes blank with incredulity. He swallowed a dry lump, forcing it to burn down his throat. His mind was spinning, his eyes fixed on the worn face of his friend, the creamy brown skin paled to a sickly tan.

He heard choked words softly garbling in her throat, and his heart thumped in relief when he saw the slightest trace of movement stir beneath her eyelids. Her eyes slid open, revealing dull gray eyes that contracted painfully in a squint. They stared vacantly at the air before her gaze met his, a small spark lighting them. Her lips smiled and parted in a small chuckle, a flow of blood bubbling past her lips. She coughed weakly—a spot of red splattered his cheek—and gave a sharp intake of air as she began to draw in deep, ragged breaths with unexpected strength.

_Thank you, Keibatsu…_

…**Say yer goodbyes, Rei.**

…_Ok._

"I'm…sorry, _Taichou_…" Her usual raspy voice was husky with barely restrained agony. She coughed again, dragging her numb, twitching hand up to her mouth to prevent herself from accidentally spraying him with her blood. He tightened his grip on her shoulders, his free hand taking the job of holding her insides where they belonged. She found her wrist cruelly broken, flopping at a ridiculous angle and let it fall limply to her side.

Another soft chuckle left her numb, bloodstained lips, her breath coming out in short pants. "I got myself…in trouble…again…"

To his own surprise, a short, harsh bark of laughter tore itself from his mouth. Hers curved in a silly smile, showing off teeth stained with crimson. His heart lightened at seeing that stupid grin again.

Her eyes squinted closed again, her brow furrowing briefly in pain as she forced herself to breathe normally. He just looked at her for a minute with a suddenly resolute expression before abruptly seizing the sleeve of his tunic in his teeth, ripping it cleanly with a jerk of his head.

"This'll have to do as a bandage for now…" He grunted distractedly; slipping the long strip of tough fabric around her body and tying it so it held her entrails inside her body, the fabric instantly soaked through with crimson. "I'll change it for you at the nearest village…it's about ten miles or so, and if I use _shunpo_ we can get there in about twenty minutes…you're such an idiot, getting hurt like this…"

She frowned at him as he continued talking to no one in particular, moving to carefully pick her up. His arm went to slip under her knees, but she gripped his sleeve weakly in her uninjured hand. Surprised emerald eyes stared questioningly at her, and widened at her solemn face. A lump formed in his throat as she forced another deep, ragged breath that ended as a short pant as her lungs began to feel cold and heavy. Her eyes unfocused, her touch going cold, her lips turning blue underneath their thin coating of red.

"_T_-_Taichou_…I don't…think I can…hold out...that…long…"

"S-Sure you can…I order you to!" There was a desperate undertone under the forced teasing in his voice that made her frown.

She felt dimly confused. He knew injuries; he knew she'd lost too much blood. He had seen death; he knew she was dying. Why was he attempting to deny it now, when she was at peace? He'd seen both injury and death many, many times, and had never denied either, only done his share of attempting to comfort those who suffered the agony of a fatal wound or were slipping into the cold arms of death. She observed the stubborn, wild hope that filled his eyes now and closed her own, not wanting to see him lie to himself.

Keibatsu's last gift, a final burst of energy, had given out.

She was done.

"I… won't make it…you know as well…as I do…that…I've lost…too much…blood…" His face twisted and he impulsively held her close. She buried her face in his chest, stealing a moment of comfort to deter the icy needles of agony that had migrated to her lungs and heart. Her hand moved to her head with agonizingly slowness, combing through knotted gray tresses with her fingers before emerging with a black, white-speckled feather. Eyes slowly closing, she brought the feather up to his face.

Without his permission, his fingers engulfed the frail hand that feebly gripped the feather. "No…no…"

"J-Just know…that…I…"

_I…_

"Maboroshi?…_Maboroshi_?…MABOROSHI?! Damn it, Maboroshi, breathe! _Breathe_! YUUREI!"

_I loved you._

The jagged-edged katana, blade white as bone, lay forgotten in the equally white snow. The immaculate blade cracked cleanly down the center, accompanied by the all-consuming sound of shattering glass.

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Ending Theme: "Will" by Lisa

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**A/N:** Don't look at me for a reason! I just felt like killing Yuurei brutally!

Signing out,  
Dragon of Twilight!


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